The Winning Hand
by Elenhin
Summary: In a high stake game, James finds he needs to have the winning hand, and he does.


Author's note: This is a one-shot I wrote to explore the relationship between Alec and James. I am intending to post a longer story featuring the two of them later, and this is partly to explore their different backgrounds first.

Very big thanks goes to Earendil Eldar for beta work.

Disclaimer: I do not own James Bond, Alec Trevelyan or any other James Bond related item or person. I have only borrowed the characters and will return them. Not even making any serious attempt at kidnapping Alec, and as I have gotten some special glue form Q, he shall appear utterly unharmed.

* * *

The Winning Hand

James regarded the crowd around him while keeping a casual appearance. It was all too easy to blend in, the Casino was packed with people. All hoping for the big win.

It was high stake games. You could not win if you were not willing to lose as well. A dangerous game he thought, but also very exciting.

Hard competition, hard and ruthless.

Especially the game that was not played out in the open. That was the game he was interested in.

A theft that could destroy the economy of an entire country. It was what he in truth called a high stake game.

He sipped at his Martini while turning to lean against the bar. Looking around and taking in everything that was happening.

He was not interested in the losers who had come in crowds in the hope of hitting jack pot. Nor the rich fools who could find no other way to amuse themselves. He was interested in something completely different.

"Is there anything that I can do for you, sir?" A soft voice asked by his side.

He turned his head to look at the waitress who had spoken. Blond hair, blue eyes and an extraordinary nice body to go on top of that. He ran an appreciating eye over her.

The way that flimsy but tight fitting dress clung to her made for a quite spectacular show.

"Another drink, perhaps?" She suggested with a dainty smile.

"Why not my dear." He allowed her to take his glass and watched her walk off. No man alive could fail to appreciate those curves, not to mention how her hips moved as she walked. He was quite certain even most dead men would appreciate that.

He looked across the room again. The roulette held no interest to him, nor did the poker game. He hardly spared the slot machines a second glance. What made him interested was another game that a stunning young woman was playing against and elderly gentleman.

Quite the crowd had gathered around their table to watch he mused. Not surprisingly the young woman had a score of young handsome men standing to attention behind her chair. She would not lack for anything during the night if they had their say, that much was perfectly clear.

He could not blame them. She wore a black close fitted dress that left her slim shoulders and arms bare. It shifted and gleamed in the light as if every stitch had a diamond embedded in it. She had real diamonds around her slender neck, and in her masterfully arranged hair.

A fortune in diamonds he was willing to wager, and she made the most dazzling sight with them.

Even as he looked she looked up at one of the young men around her. Giving him a smile and touching him on the cheek with a gesture that let James know she had picked him for her favorite. The others seemed a bit jealous of him, most likely he was the one she had intended to take with her once she retired, the one that would be granted the pleasure of escorting her to her room, and pleasure her throughout the night. No wonder the other lads would feel jealousy towards him.

He himself grinned when he noticed it, so she had a lucky charm at her beck and call, that was good for her. All he could see from where he stood was however how his blond hair contrasted with her jet black, they seemed to enjoy each others company very much.

"Here you are, sir."

James turned his attention back to the waitress and accepted the glass. "Thank you my dear." He offered her his most charming smile, and was rewarded with a blush as she averted her eyes.

"May I be of any other assistance?" She asked hopefully. "Anything at all, sir."

James sipped his drink and nodded towards the table that had captured his attention. "What can you tell me off that young lady?" He asked her. "She seems to have hit the winning streak."

"I have never seen her here before." She said sounding just a little disappointed. "She has hardly lost at all since she came here, and she has all the men fawning over her." That she uttered with a glance towards the blond who was standing with a hand resting on the back of her chair.

"Interesting." James spun his glass slowly. "Thank you my dear, you have been most helpful" He rewarded her with a soft kiss to her hand that made her giggle.

Then James started making his way slowly over to the table. He could tell that she had won once more, and her older counter part seemed to have had just about enough of it.

"Would you care to try for double or nothing?" She asked him with a seductive smile.

"I can not afford to lose more." The man threw up his hands in a gesture of defeat. "You have won to much, I can not match your luck, madam."

"We all make our own luck." She laughed sweetly and once more reached up to pat the cheek of her boy-charm. He flashed her a most daunting smile, then gave the man one that was far more superior. One that seemed to say that he had no chance of handling a woman such as her, while he himself had no problem with it. Then he bent to nuzzle her neck playfully. She seemed to almost purr with delight over it.

"Anyone else interested?" She asked looking around, not very many of the spectators seemed the slightest interested at all.

Hardly surprising, not many were eager to lose.

"A game against such a lovely lady." James said as he came over to her. "Who could turn down such an invitation."

"Then please, take a seat and we can begin." She gave him a welcoming smile, one that bordered on seductive, and yet she seemed to have promised her affection to her boy-charm who stood behind her.

"I enjoy the high stakes." She smiled as she dropped a stack of chips on the table.

"So do I." James pulled out a wad of money out of his inner pocket and dropped them on the table beside her stack of chips. There was a round of startled gasps from their spectators, and her boy-charm laid a hand on her bare shoulder, a protective gesture.

"I can see that you do." Her smile was warm and even promising, but her eyes was cold. James smiled, he had thought that she would recognize the money, seeing how it was she and her accomplices that had produced them.

It was indeed a high stake game they played. A series of them in fact, all of them a part of the grand scheme.

"You are a brave and daring man." She smiled, but with an edge in her voice. "But I would advise you to be careful." She shook the cup and spilled out the dice on the table. Smiling at the perfect score, she was very confident he noted.

"I could give you the same advice." James could have heaved a sigh of relief, it was a lucky toss.

"High stake." She said raising her eyebrows. "And one you can not hope to win." She tossed again and nodded towards the dice.

"And what makes you think that I can't win?" James asked curiously.

"Simple." She stated, noting how they were closely matched in the score, almost even. "Winning takes two things, skill and luck, you need both to win. You may have one of them, but one is not enough. Therefore you could not hope to win against me who have both."

"And if I should prove to have both skill and luck?" He asked. She motioned to the table and the present score between them. "Then you'd still need a double six to win, and for me to get less. If I were you, I would leave now."

"I'll take my chance." James grinned confidently.

"Then you may try your luck." She offered.

James tossed and watched the first, then the second die stop with six spots up, a perfect double six.

"Your turn." He said graciously. He watched how her boy-charm scoped up her dice into the cup and passed it to her, pressing a soft kiss for luck to her fingertips at the same time. She made the toss with a confident grin, one that died as she stared at the result of her toss, and a snake eyes stared back at her.

"It would seem that I have something that you do not." James smiled as he collected his winning.

"And what would that be?" She held her composure quite well he had to admit.

Behind her, her boy-charm leaned forward and draped an arm over the back of her chair, teasing her tresses away from her ear with his hand. He leaned even closer to whisper in her ear in a most seductive manner.

"He had just the thing he needed." He whispered softly, teasingly biting at her earlobe, pressing the ghost of a kiss to her neck. "As you said he needed a 'double six' to win, and that is exactly what he had. _Double-ooh-six_." He grinned as he straightened, and his green eyes sparkled playfully.

"It would seem that you won." He told James. "If you would please come with me we can cash in your winnings."

"I'd be happy to." James allowed the other man to scope up the chips with a gracious nod.

"Admit it, you switched the dice." He grinned as they walked away from the table, speaking in a hushed voice. "Admit it."

"I did, yes." Alec Trevelyan admitted. "She was playing with weighed dice the whole time anyway.

"We forced her hand." James stated triumphantly. "Now we only have to watch her next move."

"And the winning hand will be ours." Alec grinned. "Well played James."

"The same, I trust you enjoyed your part?" He joked, referring to Alec's position as her lucky charm.

"It was comfortable enough." Alec shrugged. "But this playboy thing is just to demanding."

James laughed mirthfully. "I wouldn't know about that, but where luck is concerned you gave me more than you gave her. Well done Alec, I'll buy you a pint when we get back, as thanks."

"If that's how you pay me back for it, I'll be your lucky charm any time." Alec laughed.

The End.

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This was yet another one shot, and I hope that you all enjoyed it. 

Author's note: This is a one-shot I wrote to explore the relationship between Alec and James. I am intending to post a longer story featuring the two of them later, and this is partly to explore their different backgrounds first.

I was watching an older Bond Movie, and when I hear someone tell Bond he needed a 'double six' to win, the plot bunny for it hit me like one of Q's wrenches, and I just had to write something where James won thanks to 'double-ooh-six.'


End file.
